The Case for Funding
Black-Led Social Change
THE BLACK SOCIAL CHANGE FUNDERS NETWORK
A PROJECT OF ABFE: A PHILANTHROPIC
PARTNERSHIP FOR BLACK COMMUNITIES
& THE HILL-SNOWDON FOUNDATION
"The way to right
wrongs is to turn
the light of truth
upon them."
Ida B. Wells
The Case for Funding
Black-Led Social Change
Susan Taylor Batten
President & CEO, ABFE: A Philanthropic
Partnership for Black Communities
Nat Chioke Williams, PhD
Executive Director, Hill-Snowdon Foundation
Words Matter: A Glossary
This glossary aims to bring greater access and meaning to the language used in the case statement.
anti-Black (structural) racism — Term used to specifically describe the unique discrimination,
violence and harms imposed on and impacting Black people specifically. i (See structural racism
definition below for fuller description.)
Black people/Blackness — Black people are not monolithic and represent a broad and diverse
spectrum of physiological, geographical, cultural and political traits and histories. We define Black
and Blackness (the state of being Black) in overlapping ways: (1) the mix of physiological,
geographical and cultural traits that defines Black people as people of African descent, many of
whom were moved to specific regions in the world through the Trans-Atlantic slave trade (including
continental Africans, African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Afro-Latinos and people of mixed ancestry
who identify as being Black; (2) Black or Blackness is a political and historical reality of shared
colonization and oppression at the hands of Europeans and Anglo-Americans and the resistance to
this subjugation. Blackness is a political construct of survival and resistance against racialized
oppression.
Black-led social change — Black-led social change organizations are those with predominantly
Black board and executive leadership, staff leadership and constituents — if relevant — and whose
primary organizational purpose is to work to build the political, economic and/or social power of the
Black community. So, “Black-led” is about the demographic makeup and racial identity of the
leadership as well as a political purpose of building power to ensure that the Black community
thrives.
capitalism/exploitative capitalism — An economic system in which products are produced and
distributed for profit using privately owned capital goods and wage labor. ii Exploitative capitalism
reflects a particular ideology that celebrates individual wealth and accumulation at the lowest cost to
the investor, with little regard for the societal costs and exploitation of people. Some would argue
that capitalism by its nature is exploitative, but for our purposes, we make the distinction.
equity — A condition or circumstance of situational fairness, achieved by applying differential
resources to unequal needs. It can be achieved when we make “targeted universalism” actionable.
For universally good outcomes, use targeted strategies to get there because people are situated
differently.
infrastructure (social change) — The interconnected web of organizational structures, capacities
and functions necessary to effect lasting and meaningful progressive change in society. We use
infrastructure for Black-led social change and infrastructure for Black social, institutional and political
power interchangeably.
institutional power — The structural capacity necessary to move forward an agenda for social
change, in a strategic and coordinated fashion and over time. Institutional power refers to the
strength, stability, breadth, depth and connectedness of the ecosystem of organizations and
institutions that are engaged in moving forward the agenda for change.
i
institutional racism — Refers specifically to the ways in which institutional policies and practices
create different outcomes for different racial groups. The institutional policies may never mention
any racial group, but their effect is to create advantages for whites and oppression and
disadvantage for groups classified as people of color. iii
multi-constituency movement — A cross-racial, -gender, -class, -sexual orientation, -religion,
-nationality, -ability movement focused on securing racial, gender, economic and social equity.
multi-racial alliance building — Shorthand for a complex and diverse set of practices for building
connections across racial, ethnic, cultural and national boundaries to achieve social change.
patriarchy — A form of social stratification and power-relationships in society that favors men,
mainly white men, grants them more rights and privileges over women, and oppresses women’s
social, political, financial, sexual and human rights. It has a connection with a social economic system
such as capitalism.iv
political power — The ability to influence and change how systems operate (e.g., changing policy
and practice). Political power refers to the ability to win concrete changes in laws, institutional policy
and practice, and ultimately the social and economic conditions of the Black community.
race — A social/political construct used to confer white privilege and social control, and which is not
an actual genetic reality.
racism — A system of structuring opportunities and assigning value based on a social interpretation
of how we look, i.e., our race.
racial equity — The condition that would be achieved if one’s racial identity no longer predicted, in
a statistical sense, how one fares in society. Racial equity is more than the establishment of fair
treatment, and fundamentally requires that past inequities be resolved so that the current
conditions, and not just the treatment of people, cannot be predicted by race.
racial justice — The systematic fair treatment of people of all races through the proactive
elimination of policies, practices, attitudes and cultural messages that reinforce differential
outcomes by race.
social power — The ability to influence and shape the way people think about issues and
themselves, and to inspire people to action.
structural racism — The normalization and legitimization of an array of dynamics — historical,
cultural, institutional and interpersonal — that routinely advantage whites while producing
cumulative and chronic adverse outcomes for people of color. Structural racism encompasses the
entire system of white domination, diffused and infused in all aspects of society, including its history,
culture, politics, economics and entire social fabric.v We see anti-Black structural racism as the
foundational architecture for the strategies, tactics, tools and cultural worldviews that propagate
and maintain racial oppression, repression and exclusion in the U.S. and the world.
ii
white privilege — Having something of value that is denied to non-whites simply because of the
group they belong to, rather than because of anything they’ve done or failed to do.
white superiority — The belief in the inherent racial superiority of the white “race.” White
superiority is an ideology that helps achieve the goal of white supremacy.
white supremacy — A historically based, institutionally perpetuated system of exploitation and
oppression of continents, nations and peoples of color by white peoples and nations of the
European continent, for the purpose of maintaining and defending a system of wealth, power and
privilege.vi
i
https://policy.m4bl.org/glossary/
ii
https://policy.m4bl.org/glossary/
iii
https://www.racialequitytools.org/glossary
http://agendatobuildblackfutures.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/BYP_AgendaBlackFutures_
booklet_web.pdf
iv
v
https://www.racialequitytools.org/glossary
vi
Challenging White Supremacy Workshop, Sharon Martinas (Fourth Revision), 1995.
iii
INTRODUCTION
he country has long resisted grappling
Black-led
organizing
and
social
change
with its history of slavery and legacy of
organizations. This encouraging uptick runs
anti-Black racism, and with the impact they’ve
counter to a long pattern of philanthropic neglect
had on the Black community. Today, the nation
and under-investment in the infrastructure of
has an important opportunity to address this
Black institutions.
legacy. Philanthropy can play a pivotal role by
reversing its under-investment in Black-led
Nonetheless, questions abound. Is this new
social change.
philanthropic interest in racial equity episodic?
The history of Black-led movements is rife
significant support for Black-led social change
with social justice victories, great and small.
organizations,
This has contributed to advances for Black
communities matter and thrive?
communities and landmark strides for our
entire society. Black social change leaders and
Black-led institutions have played vital roles in
almost every major movement in this country,
from the abolition of slavery through today.
Recently, under the banner Black Lives Matter,
new social consciousness and mass action
have exposed the pernicious impact of antiBlack racism on the Black community, sparking
a renewed public discourse on racial equity
And will it translate into long-term and
in
order
to
make
Black
More than a polemic in trying times, these are
the questions posed by the Black Social Change
Funders Network (BSCFN), a partnership forged
by ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black
Communities and the Hill-Snowdon Foundation.
We are certain that systemic and progressive
change can only be achieved with a robust and
strong infrastructure
for Black-led
social
change. The network’s primary goal is to help
and justice in the United States.
vitalize and strengthen the infrastructure for
Within philanthropy there is a surge of interest in
greater philanthropic investment.
racial equity, accompanied by new support for
Black-led social change by advocating for much
The BSCFN presents The Case for Funding
A dynamic and lasting infrastructure for Black
Black-Led Social Change as a charge to inspire
social, institutional and political power is in the
sustained commitment to strengthen and
best interests of transformative social change.
expand the
for Black-led
It is essential for dismantling structural racism
social, institutional and political power in the
and charting a course for an equitable, just and
U.S.
sustainable nation.
infrastructure
Our case addresses three interwoven questions:
 Why focus on anti-Black racism?
 Why is it necessary to invest in Black-led
social change?
 What should philanthropy do?
2
WHY FOCUS ON ANTI-BLACK RACISM?
t is important to focus on anti-Black racism
Anti-Black racism is manifested in the current
because it is the root cause for the racial
social, economic and political marginalization of
inequity we see today. We cannot achieve true
Black people in society, such as the lack of
racial and social equity for all people without
opportunities,
dismantling white supremacy and anti-Black
higher unemployment, significant poverty rates
racism.
and overrepresentation in the criminal justice
lower
socioeconomic
status,
system.
Over the past 30 years, a host of social narratives
have been used to justify or minimize anti-Black
racism, including tropes like post-racialism, color
blindness, reverse racism, etc. The purpose of
advancing
these
false
narratives
was
to
delegitimize the ongoing need for Black social
change in the hearts and minds of the public; to
justify the dismantling of civil rights protections;
and to secure and strengthen the system of
Anti-Black
white social, political and economic control, or
cultural
persistent focus on anti-Black racism is an
strategy
in
addressing
that
propagate
and
racism in American society, it is a difference in
“white race” to not only justify enslavement of
kind, not in substance, from anti-Black racism.
African people but also maintain control of
rights
worldviews
While all people of color suffer some form of
new Virginia colony devised the concept of the
Legal
foundational
exclusion in the U.S. and the world.
In the 1600s, European political leaders in the
Europeans.
the
maintain racial oppression, repression and
white
supremacy.
lower-class
is
architecture for the strategies, tactics, tools and
white supremacy. Adopting an unapologetic and
essential
racism
Embracing a shared commitment to dismantling
and
anti-Black racism will strike at the heart of all
distinctions were imposed to create white skin
forms of racism in this country.
privilege. Poor and working-class white people
became more exploitable, duped by a myth of
Additionally, without an exceedingly explicit and
white superiority to scapegoat people of color
persistent focus on dismantling anti-Black
and mask the culpability of ruling white elites.
racism, the American social, political and
economic system will always reinforce a white
Thus “white” supremacy and anti-Black racism
racial hierarchy, as it was originally intended to
began, and persist today. The purpose of anti-
do. Finally, a focus on anti-Black racism and
Black racism is to ensure control and privilege
white supremacy is critical to all struggles for
for white male elites. Bigotry, racial hatred, fear
justice and equity.
and the belief in white superiority are just
strategies used to help maintain this control.
3
Savage Inequities
The interlocking systems of white supremacy,
 In the area of wealth and poverty, white
patriarchy and exploitative capitalism are the
homeownership rates have always exceeded
root causes of most of the inequities that exist in
rates of Black homeownership. Compounding
this country and much of the world. These
the racial wealth divide, the recent economic
systems work to create a reality of structural
recession decimated gains in Black wealth,
violence and systematic deprivations of all Black
and Black communities are the least likely to
people.
recover.6 Census Bureau data for 2015
indicate 24.1 percent of Blacks live in poverty,
Despite historic civil rights laws 50 years ago,
compared to 9.1 percent of whites. One of
Blacks fare worse than whites and, in many
every three Black children, 32.9 percent, live in
instances, other people of color on almost every
poverty, compared to 12.1 percent of white
indicator of well-being. While there has been
children.
progress over time, some gaps are persistent
 In criminal justice nationally, Blacks are
and worsening.2
incarcerated at a rate of 1,408 per 100,000,
 In the area of health, Black children are two
while whites are incarcerated at a rate of 275
times more likely to die as infants or suffer
per 100,000 — resulting in a Black incarceration
from asthma than white children. Black
rate that is 5.1 times that of whites.7 One in
women are two times more likely to die of
every 15 Black men, compared to one in every
cervical cancer, and Black men are two times
106 white men, is incarcerated. One in every 18
more likely to die of prostate cancer than their
Black women, compared to one in every 111
3
white counterparts.
white women, is incarcerated.8
 In education, Black students are suspended
and expelled at three times the rate of white
students. They make up 16 percent of school
enrollment, but account for 32 percent of
students who receive in-school suspensions,
42 percent of students who receive multiple
out-of-school suspensions, and 34 percent of
students who are expelled.4 Black girls are
suspended at six times the rate of white girls.5
4
WHY INVEST IN BLACK-LED SOCIAL CHANGE?
t is important for philanthropy to invest in
The under-investment and neglect has not been
strengthening the infrastructure for Black-
absolute; there are several foundations that have
led social change to reverse its pattern of under-
supported Black-led social change organizations,
investment, so that the Black community can
particularly in the last two years with the rise of
thrive and the broader progressive community
the Black Lives Matter Movement. This is an
can achieve its most ambitious goals.
encouraging development, and the Black Social
Change Funders Network aims to build on this
We define Black-led social change organizations
work to ensure Black-led groups that work
as those with predominantly Black boards,
executive
leadership,
staff
outside of the issues of criminal justice and
leadership and
organizing strategies receive necessary support.
constituents. The primary purpose of these
groups is to build political, economic and social
However, a fair portion of the new funding
power in order to secure freedom and equity for
granted to Black-led social change groups
the Black community.
comes from short-term or discretionary pools.
A challenge will be to see whether funds can
be moved into regular funding pools to
Foundation Redlining
institutionalize support
Bias against Black-led organizations has fed
a false narrative about their effectiveness
and worthiness for investment. “Foundation
redlining” of Black-led organizations9 — fueled by
explicit and implicit bias — has been an unspoken
reality for decades. Similar to other instances of
racial exclusion, Black-led organizations are often
for
Black-led social
change within foundations.
"We All Get Free"
Self-determination is an abiding and essential
social justice principle, as expressed in the maxim
that those most affected by an issue must
met with greater skepticism and scrutiny than
their white counterparts when applying for
funding. This can even happen in racial justice
grantmaking programs, where the need for
be at the forefront of resolving that issue.
The call for strengthening the infrastructure for
Black-led social change is fundamentally a call for
philanthropy to fully actualize this most basic
immigrant-led groups is assumed but the need
for Black-led groups is sometimes questioned.
principle of social justice, racial equity and human
rights.
Available data suggests that foundation funding
Building a powerful Black-led infrastructure for
targeted specifically at Black communities
social change will best ensure the changes
declined during the late 1990s and through
necessary to create thriving Black communities
2006.10 This pattern of neglect is likely worse
and to dismantle anti-Black structural racism.
for Black-led social change organizations, given
We
that organizing and advocacy account for
all foundations committed to equity, justice and
a relatively meager amount of overall giving,
fairness should have an explicit focus on supporting
thus limiting institutional power to make Black
Black-led social change to achieve their goals.
communities thrive.
5
argue
that
regardless
of
issue
focus,
This infrastructure would not only benefit Black
communities, but the nation as a whole. A strong
infrastructure for Black institutional and political
power is the cornerstone of an effective and
broad multi-constituency movement for deep
and lasting social change in this country. As
history has demonstrated, when the Black
community increases its capacity and power to
dismantle
anti-Black
racism
and
white
supremacy, it helps ensure a more equitable
future for everyone.
This is what is meant when people say, “When
Black folks get free, we all get free!” Free to be
our true and full selves. Free to strive together
as a broader human family that maximizes the
talents of all for the good of all.
Building multi-racial alliances and Black-led social change
organizations is not an either/or proposition.
Multi-racial alliance building should not be done at the expense of building Blackled infrastructure for social change. We embrace building multi-racial alliances as
an important organizing principle for building power for communities that suffer
similar political exclusion due to structural racism.
However, we oppose the loss of political distinctiveness from the use of terms like
“people of color” and also the zero-sum approach of multi-racial alliances that too
often exclude Black-led groups.
A true approach to multi-racialism would mean a focus on racial equity and require
a differentiated analysis of the needs of Black, Latino, Asian and Native people, as
well as a tailored investment strategy that builds the capacity and power of each
of these groups to secure equitable outcomes.
6
WHAT SHOULD PHILANTHROPY DO?
e make the urgent case for philanthropy
intersectional approaches to address the
to significantly increase its investment in
complexity of anti-Black racism.
strengthening the infrastructure for resources
 Economic Development & Economic Power.
directed toward Black-led social change. The
Building wealth is a major strategy toward
following section offers the BSCFN’s core areas
better opportunities for the Black community.
for infrastructure investment, starting position
As such, it is important to strengthen and
on a resource goal as a target for increased
connect leaders and organizations to expand
investment, and key considerations to guide
Black businesses and increase their access to
grantmaking related to Black-led social change.
credit and operating capital (through CDFIs,
cooperatives, etc.).
What to Fund
 Research & Intellectual Power. To facilitate
The BSCFN recommends that philanthropy, both
change in the Black community, stronger
foundations and donors, prioritize sustained,
connections between Black researchers and
long-term investments in Black-led infrastructure
research organizations are needed to carry
in seven key areas:
out work relevant to our experiences and
Power.
needs. Support could include partnerships
Building the political power of the Black
between HBCUs, endowed chairs and existing
community is a sorely needed and central
or newly created Black think tanks, etc.
 Civic
Engagement
&
Political
capacity to create thriving Black communities.
 Communications Narrative & Social Power.
This includes strengthening and/or building
Change for the community is intrinsically tied
Black-led C3 and C4 organizations locally and
to the “narratives” about who Black people
nationally. It is also important to fund
are. It is important to strengthen media and
strategies for litigation and defense against
strategic communications to advance accurate
legal threats and attacks.
portrayals and images of Black realities. This
 Community Organizing & People Power.
includes support for Black journalists, social
A well-organized Black community will fuel
media activism and the use of the arts to
change in this country. A significant increase
shape accurate Black narratives.
for “pre-existing” and “new guard” Black
 Leadership
community organizing groups and networks is
Development
&
Strategic
Convenings. The most fundamental part of
essential.
the infrastructure for Black-led social change
is skilled and supported Black social change
 Policy Advocacy & System Reform. Greater
capacity is needed to support legislative
leaders.
advocacy to influence, develop and disseminate
supporting and expanding the leadership
policy and model legislation, and to assess their
pipeline of Black social change leaders across
impact on the Black community. In addition, it is
a wide spectrum of issues and sectors. This
important to fund multi-issue work that allows
can be done through supporting skills building
7
Philanthropy
must
invest
in
trainings, fellowships and other leadership
During the next five years, BSCFN calls for
development strategies. Also critical are
at least a 25 percent increase in giving by the
regular convening opportunities for Black
nation’s largest foundations to the Black
social change leaders to build relationships,
community, with a particular emphasis on
cultivate strategic partnerships, and develop
strengthening the infrastructure for Black-led
collective action plans and visions for Black
social change.
social change. This should be a standard part
of
the
infrastructure
that
philanthropy
supports as a matter of routine.
In addition to these key areas, the BSCFN
suggests that grantmakers prioritize an explicit
focus on the U.S. South and Midwest as key
areas to build Black-led infrastructure. These
regions have significant Black populations and
little philanthropic capacity.
Strong consideration must also be given to those
most vulnerable in our community — namely,
organizations led by Black women (responsibly
broadening the recent investments in Black men
and boys), youth, LGBTQI and immigrant
leaders.
On a more fundamental level, we’re calling for a
How Much Is Enough?
sustained philanthropic commitment of expanded
Our call raises the question: How much is needed?
financial resources, coupled with investments in
Quantifying an amount that would enable Black-
human, social, political and moral capital.
led organizations to address the accumulated
Readiness Factors and Building Blocks
for Investing in Black-Led Infrastructure
impact of anti-Black racism over centuries is
almost impossible.
In order to maximize foundation investments in
However, enduring transformational approaches
the areas described above, there are steps that
to funding and other resources are a critical first
donors and philanthropy-serving organizations
step. The goal is to focus on achieving racial
(PSO) can take immediately. These include:
equity and thriving Black communities as the
 Map the current infrastructure for Black-
benchmarks for the level and nature of
investment,
evaluation
of
outcomes
and
led social change. To further understand the
ultimate success. Available data indicate that
current
less than 2 percent of funding by the nation’s
capacity, the BSCFN is calling on colleagues
largest foundations is specifically targeted to the
in the field to carry out scans by place and
Black community.
issue area. As it relates to place, select PSOs
12
8
Black-led
infrastructure
and
its
like Regional Blacks in Philanthropy (BIP)
serve (e.g., white-led organizations serving
groups and regional associations as well as
predominantly Black constituents). Foundations
community foundations can lead these efforts
should take appropriate corrective measures
to further clarify what donors are investing in
if they find evidence of racial inequity in their
Black-led social change, the number of groups,
grantmaking portfolios. We further encourage
(relative) level of investment and capacity-
foundations to share their findings with
building needs. As it relates to topic, national
the field to provide much needed data on
issue-based PSOs (e.g., Grantmakers in Health,
funding patterns for Black-led social change
Grantmakers in Education, etc.) can carry out
organizations.
similar scans.
 Increase awareness. Exposure to the lived
experiences of Black people, informed by
research and training, will shape philanthropy’s
commitment and approach to Black-led social
change organizations. Additionally, supporting
narrative change work for Black communities is
crucial. It is important to prioritize Black-led
researchers and institutions to do this work for
a grounded perspective and to increase the
capacity of these Black-led groups.
 Develop racial equity and diversity plans.
Every foundation should be equipped with a
racial equity plan to move funds toward Blackled social change and to ameliorate the
impacts of anti-Black racism. The plan should
exact a range of strategies and tactics —
including racial equity training for foundation
boards and staff, and diversity and inclusion
for Black people within foundation executive
leadership and program staff as well as
vendors and professional services.
As it relates to equity in grantmaking,
foundations should review their portfolios
to assess the racial diversity of the leadership
of their grantees, with a particular eye
toward Black-led organizations. Additionally,
foundations should assess whether there
is any mismatch between the leadership
of their grantees and the constituents they
9
CONCLUSION
confluence of circumstances has created
and, more important, to fight to make this country
our cause and our call for action. Persistent
live up to its founding principles of justice and
inequities faced by the Black community,
equal opportunity for all. Black-led social change
leadership by existing and new Black-led social
organizations that employ a strategic, expansive
change groups, and the associated backlash
approach to dismantling anti-Black racism and
require concerted action to increase and
white supremacy are uniquely situated to lead
leverage resources to strengthen infrastructure
and be effective in achieving this goal. Supporting
for change in our community.
Black-led social change in pursuit of racial equity
is more than an ask from nonprofits to donors.
The results of the 2016 election cycle further give
It is a philanthropic responsibility and a moral
cause and reason for building Black institutional
imperative.
and political power. A more powerful Black
community working alongside other communities
This is our call. Now is the time.
will be necessary to fend off these current threats
10
Endnotes
Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations,” The Atlantic, June 2014, www.theatlantic.com/
magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/.
1
Dayna Bowen Matthew and Richard V. Reeves, “Trump won white voters, but serious inequities
remain for black Americans” (Brookings Institution, January 13, 2017), www.brookings.edu/blog/
social-mobility-memos/2017/01/13/trump-won-white-voters-but-serious-inequities-remain-for-blackamericans/.
2
Families USA, “African American Health Disparities Compared to Non-Hispanic Whites”
(infographic), April 2014, http://familiesusa.org/product/african-american-health-disparitiescompared-to-non-hispanic-whites.
3
Lindsay Cook, “U.S. Education: Still Separate and Unequal,” U.S. News & World Report Data Mine,
January 2015, www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/01/28/us-education-still-separate-andunequal.
4
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected (African
American Policy Forum and the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies, February 2015),
www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/app/uploads/2015/09/BlackGirlsMatter_Report.pdf.
5
Ted Mellnik, Darla Cameron, Denise Lu, Emily Badger and Kat Downs, “The Divided American
Dream,” The Washington Post, May 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/
wonk/housing/overview/.
6
Ashley Nellis, PhD, The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons (The Sentencing
Project, June 2016), www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/The-Color-of-JusticeRacial-and-Ethnic-Disparity-in-State-Prisons.pdf.
7
Jamal Hagler, “6 Things You Should Know About Women of Color and the Criminal Justice System”
(Center for American Progress, March 16, 2016), www.americanprogress.org/issues/criminaljustice/news/2016/03/16/133438/6-things-you-should-know-about-women-of-color-and-thecriminal-justice-system/.
8
Susan Taylor Batten, “Is Philanthropy Redlining Black Communities?” ABFE Makes a Point Blog, June
20, 2016, www.abfemakesapoint.org/opinion/is-philanthropy-redlining-black-communities/.
9
There is evidence that grantmaking for people of color has declined as a proportion of grants
awarded by the largest 1000 foundations. For Blacks, the proportional decrease has been more
significant: 3.8 percent of these grants went to African Americans in 1998, but only 1.9 percent in
2005 and 1.5 percent in 2006. Source: Rick Cohen, “Dimensions of Racial Equity in Foundation
Grantmaking,” (Community Service Society, May 2009).
10
Quinn Norton, “The White Problem (Part One of a Series on Whiteness),” Medium.com, October 3,
2014, https://medium.com/message/whiteness-3ead03700322#.has0fda8r.
11
12
Cohen, “Dimensions of Racial Equity in Foundation Grantmaking.”
11
Appendix
Savage Inequities: Supporting Data
The data below illustrate wide disparities in black social, economic and political conditions.
Education Black Facts: www.abfe.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ABFE-Education.pdf
Employment and Workforce Development Black Facts: www.abfe.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/
ABFE-Employment-and-Workforce.pdf
Criminal Justice Black Facts: www.abfe.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ABFE-Criminal-Justice.pdf
Wealth and Asset Building Black Facts: www.abfe.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ABFE-Wealth-andAsset-Building.pdf
Health and Wellness Black Facts: www.abfe.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ABFE-Health-andWellness.pdf
© 2017 Black Social Change Funders Network
Editorial, design and layout
services provided by
McKinney & Associates